Sainsbury’s Brand Match Response To Tesco

Published on October 11, 2011

Following Tesco’s launch of their ‘Big Price Drop’ campaign, Sainsbury’s are responding with their own ‘Brand Match deal’.

Sainsbury’s is pledging to price match thousands of items sold by Tesco and Asda and to do so has installed new technology at its tills to compare prices. If a branded product that’s included in the price comparison set (of which there are some 13,000) is identified as being sold cheaper at Tesco or Asda, the shopper will be given the difference back via money off coupons.

This brand match deal starts tomorrow, 12 October and to participate shoppers have to spend a minimum of £20 and redeem any coupons they receive within 2 weeks.

The promotion does not apply to shopping online. It also doesn’t include electrical items, batteries, entertainment, fuel or jewellery. The coupons, equating to the price difference, have a maximum value of £10. Find out more on the Sainsbury’s website.

Mike Coupe, Sainsbury’s Group Commercial Director, said: “The launch of Sainsbury’s Brand Match across the UK represents a revolution in retail and is fantastic news for hard-pressed shoppers.

“Unlike some of our competitors we aren’t asking customers to do the hard work to check on our prices.” adding “We are so confident that our prices are competitive with Asda and Tesco that we are happy to do the legwork for our customers.”

The deal has already been successfully trialled at Sainsbury’s stores in Northern Ireland. During this, Tesco in Northern Ireland accepted the Sainsbury’s coupons but it is not known if if will do the same as the deal rolls out across the UK

Asda has an existing pledge to be 10% cheaper than their rivals.

The Brand Match deal from Sainsbury’s follows the £500 million Big Price Drop campaign from Tesco’s to cut the price of 3,000 everyday staples, including bread, milk, fresh fruit and vegetables.

MoneyHighStreet comments: “Clearly in these difficult times the supermarkets are upping their efforts to increase their market share.

“Customers are hugely cost conscious at the moment, seeking to save money at every opportunity.

“In reality, whilst this latest deal from Sainsbury’s may not actually save the customer a huge amount, it will no doubt be perceived as being very positive and provide reassurance that they are not being ‘ripped off’.

“Remember too that Sainsbury’s will often have great special offers running too – you can see our round-up of their lates offers here.”